The invention pertains to a surveillance device for monitoring and recording the servicing of vehicles, in particular, fast-moving vehicles or aircraft, and in particular a monitoring device with a camera having an automatically controlled shutter.
The devices previously employed for this purpose are usually modified 16 mm or 35 mm movie camera systems, whose objectives are equipped with a preset or automatically controlled shutter for the purpose of adaption to the illumination of the rapidly and significantly varying brightness of the object, the shutter however being sensitive against g-forces most of the time.
With such prior known camera systems it is impossible to evaluate the observations immediately as they are taken, because the film must first be developed. It is difficult to record the observations over long periods of time without a gap, since the quantity of film supplied is limited for reasons of space and weight. The automated objectives used are relatively large and heavy because of the extensive mechanical structure required for rapid shutter adjustment. This arrangement is especially undesirable if the camera is mounted behind an instrument panel, and there is only a little area for the objective available in the instrument panel. Also the iris shutters ordinarily used in the objectives tend, under the influence of large acceleration forces, to move spontaneously or to lock.